Victoria Gameros was always known by friends and family as a little princess.

"She just had a way about her that made other people want to do things for her," Victoria's mother, Carol Gameros, said. "Not in a mean way or anything, people just wanted to do things for her and treat her like a princess."

Gameros was shot and killed in a car parked at Poston Junior High School by her boyfriend, Jonathon Vargas, at about 10:45 a.m. April 13. She was 22 years old.

Gameros worked at Wells Fargo as a home-preservation specialist, and Carol said that her managers were very impressed that she could handle such a job at a young age.

"She loved her job, and we were proud to know that she did her job well," Carol said.

Gameros had recently purchased her first car on her own, and was very proud that she had applied for a loan without help from her parents.

"We were all very proud of everything that she did on her own," Carol said.

Carol said that Gameros, a graduate of Westwood High School in Mesa, was very family-oriented before she began dating the man who eventually took her life.

Carol said she suspected that Gameros became distant because her boyfriend was controlling over her. But she will always search for answers from that day, because after he killed Gameros, Vargas took his own life.

After graduating from high school, Gameros took some college classes before deciding that she wanted to get a job instead. She started working at Wells Fargo when she was 19, and was one of the youngest people on the staff, Carol said.

"Even at work, people called her a princess without even knowing that was what we called her at home," Carol said.

Gameros was planning to go back to school and take business classes to further her career, but she never got the opportunity, Carol said.

Carol said people always wanted to be around Gameros, because she always had a positive attitude and an upbeat spirit. It was difficult to make her angry or upset.

"She loved the color purple, butterflies and zebra print. She loved music and dancing," Carol said.

Gameros had a cat, Fluffy, since she was 2 years old, and Carol said Fluffy was one of her favorite possessions.

"She just loved her cat, she loved animals," Carol said.

Carol said the family does not know what prompted the killer to take Gameros' life and his own, but she hopes her memory will help other girls be aware of dangerous situations like hers.

"It's such a shock to us, you never think that something like this would happen to your family," Carol said. "Not a moment goes by that we don't miss her."